Nakushita Kotoba
by TearShield Alchemist
Summary: When a slave girl is realsed into Konoha's hands, more specifically Naruto's, will they be able to open her eyes, open her heart and heal her past? Or maybe even get her to say more than just a number... NaruxOC
1. Chapter 1

A/n: I'm really into writing Naruto fics at the moment, don't hurt me!

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_**Nakushita Kotoba**_

The cloud nin flocked to see the Konoha ninja enter the village. This party included the very travel-worn Hokage, the rookie nine, team guy, the sand sibs (who were in Konoha and wanted to come too!), their senseis and Iruka. Oh, and of course Shizune.

As the… group (?) were about to enter the Raikage tower, they saw a most interesting sight. A girl no older than the rookie nine was chained up to a post outside the said tower.

"I wonder what she did…" Iruka asked a rhetorical question, figuring the girl had committed a crime of some kind.

"Probably petty thievery," Kakashi figured aloud.

They watched, waiting for people to move so they could enter and they saw a man approach the girl and untie her from the rope, holding it in his hands. He then looked at Tsunade and his face went pale.

"Show some respect!" he shouted at the girl, making the whole street of people become to stare at him. The man pulled a whip like object and beat the girl who fell to the floor.

"Bow!" he commanded, and the girl didn't waste anytime obeying.

"Please pardon her; she is just a worthless _eta_." He said the last word so icily, many of the townsfolk flinched.

"She's a… slave?" Iruka gulped, looking at the girl sprawled out across the carriage way. When she finally stood she locked eyes with Tsunade, but many of them could see epitomes of fear and pure terror streak across them. The man noticed her lingering eye contact with the Hokage.

"Say you are sorry!" the man squealed like a pig. After seemingly remembering something, he pushed the girl back into the dirt, stomping on the back of her head so she literally ate dirt.

"Her eyes…" Shizune whispered as they entered the overly-crowded tower.

Once inside it was strictly business, but when that part was over…

"Please send for Yamamoto," the Raikage ordered his apprentice it seemed.

Moments later, in walked the pig squealing man and the girl.

"I'll leave you to do business, Yamamoto." And with that, the Raikage stepped gracefully out of the room.

"Now, Hokage-sama, I would like to do business with you to finalise the treaty!" the man that could only be described as greedy rubbed his hands together. "I would like to sell you this worthless girl!"

Tsunade thought she might vomit from the happiness in his voice.

"You mean I'd be buying her freedom?" Tsunade almost choked on her words.

The man's face fell. "Well I was going to sell her to you as your personal slave, but you may do what you want with her afterwards. _She won't be my problem then_," Tsunade thought she heard him whisper the last part. She turned to the other ninja's, all of whom were looking pityingly at the girl, who was being forced to eat dirt once again.

"Take her," Shizune urged her… idol. Tsunade had no choice.

"How much?"

The man seemed pretty pleased with himself as he wandered out of the tower.

"So, what is your name, onna?" Tsunade asked, looking the wimpy looking girl over again. The girl it seemed had frozen. Her eyes were wide with the same fear she shown in the marketplace outside.

Before Tsunade could ask what was wrong, the girl had fallen to her knees and was bowing. Tsunade definitely did not expect that.

"Uh, miss?" Tsunade knelt down beside the girl to touch her hand. Upon feeling touch, the girl jerked upright and held her hand close to her chest.

"Do I scare you that much?" Tsunade asked more worried than she'd intended to sound. No answer. Not even a simple nod or shake.

"Do you have a name?" Shizune cooed to the frightened girl.

"Ichi kyuu go!" the girl yelled as she fell back into her bow.

Iruka was confused. Ichi kyuu go. 195.

"I'm guessing that is her number, Tsunade-sama," Iruka proposed aloud.

Tsunade stood a moment in thought, considering the reason.

"Slaves usually have numbers, not names, so that must be her number in the slave order…" Iruka explained in more detail.

Tsunade looked at the girl, whose sea-coloured eyes were staring into her own.

"Ichi kyuu go?" Tsunade repeated to the girl, who merely bowed her head in response. "Can you say anything else?"

The girl didn't move.

'Guess not…' Inner Tsunade sighed loudly.

"We'll have to give her a name for now, won't we?" Shizune looked to her fellow ninja's who all nodded furiously in agreement.

"But what to call her? All she can say is ichi kyuu go!" Asuma pointed out the by now very obvious.

"Maybe we could pull those words together to form something… Chikyugo?" Kakashi nearly laughed at the name Rock Lee had come out with.

"No… How about… Chiyuko?" Kurenai voiced, startled at how odd it sounded.

Tsunade thought that would be the name that would stick.

"It is decided. Chiyuko it is!"

The girl, now christened Chiyuko, looked at around at everyone, wondering why they all were raising their fists. Maybe they were going to beat her?

Chiyuko bowed again, so low and so quickly that her head made a light banging noise as it hit the floor. Kakashi stared at the girl.

"My bet," he began. "Is that she grew up as a slave. I bet she has no education either…"

Gai looked at the helpless girl. "Maybe someone could teach her?"

Everyone spun around to look at Iruka.

He blushed brightly. "W-Why me!?"

"Because you're a teacher, Iruka-_sensei_," Kakashi teased, smiling and dragging out the "sensei" at the end of his sentence.

Sakura than had a good thought.

"Where is she going to stay?"

Tsunade's grand master plan of taking in a slave wasn't going as well as she thought.

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A/n: It is begun. I hope you like the beginning. I'm posting the next chapter tomorrow, I hope! Please read and review! I'd be much obliged, and not to mention I'd appreciate it! 


	2. Chapter 2

A/n: As promised, chapter two! Eta poor girl/urchin girl, Onna: woman/girl, Yukisnow, that is my translation thingy!!!

Disclaimer: I own it about as much as I own my bra size... I just don't!

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_**Nakushita Kotoba**_

Temari never felt so concerned for another person of the same gender before. But this girl had had it tough…

And she felt sympathy towards her… strongly.

"So where _is _Chiyuko-san staying?" Iruka regarded the question.

This futile attempt at taking in the ex-eta was only getting worse.

"I can't take her in, as my parents don't like strange people; Ino's house is too small, Hinata's dad wouldn't let an eta into their house, Kurenai lives in an apartment, Shizune also lives in an apartment, Anko… an apartment, Tenten… odd living arrangement, Temari… her family problems and Tsunade doesn't have any spare rooms at the moments…" Sakura considered the options aloud. Then the idea hit them.

"There is no way a girl could stay with any of us guys!" Kiba yelled raucously. Many of the men nodded.

"Let's see… I'm too busy, Kakashi's a pervert, Jiraiya's a pervert, Naruto's a pervert, Sasuke's too emo, Lee's too… youth-bloody-ful, Gai… is the same reason as Lee, Kiba has the dogs to take care of, Asuma's busy with home matters, Neji and Hinata have the same reason, Shino… uh, girls don't like bugs that much, do they?" Iruka had fun counting off the names on his fingers.

Everyone sighed.

No one could take in poor Chiyuko.

"Well… wait a second… Naruto's apartment is big enough!" Sakura yelled, considering the facts of room and stuff.

Tsunade's eye twitched.

"He is a pervert, and it isn't right for a woman to live with a man!" she screeched. But than again, Naruto could hardly be called a man, more likely an over-grown boy.

"It should be okay, Granny Tsunade!" Naruto smirked.

Using Kakashi's book, she proceeded to whack him over the head.

"No, it is not okay!"

Chiyuko saw the lady who'd bought her whacking the poor blonde boy, who was, by looks, about her age.

Maybe she'd done something and he was being blamed for it?

On instinct alone, she stood up and went over to Naruto, standing behind him holding his sleeve; her eyes practically begging Tsunade to stop.

The blonde looked over the girl, Tsunade stopped, and everyone else stared at the scene before them…

Naruto looked at the sea-eyed girl, taking in the whole shape of her face. Her eyes had firmly placed their gaze on his and she had this look that said _"I'm sorry…"_

'Why is she sorry?' Naruto thought, wondering why the girl was so sympathetic. Tears swelled in Chiyuko's eyes, and almost came pouring down, when Naruto lifted his hand that hadn't been weighed down with Chiyuko's grip and wiped the salty water away from her wide eyes.

Her look calmed somewhat, as she felt her knees give away below her feet. She fell into Naruto, who caught her with ease, and fainted. Naruto felt something wet drench his hand. As he held her up with one of his arms, he looked at the other arm, which was completely covered in blood. Wet and it was still coming through the back of Chiyuko's clothing.

"She's bleeding!" he screamed at Tsunade, who in turn, looked at Naruto's hands.

"Those beatings must have got to her!" Shizune yelped.

Naruto could feel the _eta's_ breathing slow right down, feeling scared for the girl.

He laid her head on the floor as he stood above her, watching her life-blood drain away.

Everyone was worried when Chiyuko opened her eyes and they rolled back into her head, but all was fine now.

Chiyuko was being slowly cradled with the rocking of Tsunade's carriage-like thing. Naruto sat beside her, looked into the girl's (now) pale face. It was like _yuki_.

"You will be able to look after her for now, right Naruto?" Tsunade looked dead serious at the still-genin-but-passed-jounin-level-ninja-who-acted-like-a-spoiled-child Naruto.

"Sure I will! She'd had a hard life, probably having everyone hate her and treat her badly. Sort of like me, in a roundabout kind of way… I'm sure we'll get along fine!" Naruto smiled, though he still couldn't help but feel that he knew Chiyuko already.

Tsunade smiled back, unaware that Naruto had a kind of doubting feeling already there. She then motioned for Naruto to get out, which he did after some arguing that almost woke up Chiyuko.

Back in Konoha, everything was fine. Sakura lead Chiyuko through the streets so she could look around, and then to her apartment, which had been filled with stuff.

At that discovery, Chiyuko looked at Sakura, scared stiff.

"Chiyuko, these are things the other kunoichi has gotten for you. These are yours," Sakura chuckled holding up a normal grey yukata. "These are only simple things, so when you get better and can walk better, we'll go shopping for coo, stuff!" the teenage kunoichi squealed and ran out of the room. Chiyuko gazed over the things on the bed.

Clothes, a stuffed animal or two, some books…

Everything she'd never had…

She'd owned two simple dresses, and that was it.

Except for a sweet golden locket that hung on an anklet around her left ankle. The only thing left of her parents.

Anything else she'd owned was burnt years ago.

She heard a light knock and than in popped the blonde ninja boy she'd seen earlier.

"Hey Chiyuko!" he smiled brightly. Chiyuko was confused.

"Ichi kyuu go?" she asked, uncertain.

"Oh that's right. You have a new name. Say it with me! Chi-yu-ko!"

"Chi… yu… ko…"

"That's right! Now, my name is Naruto! Nice to meet you, by the way and I live next door!"

'Naruto?' Chiyuko thought, trying to remember the name, but failed miserably.

The girl placed her flowing black hair behind her shoulders, looking at Naruto and undecided about whether to trust him or not.

Without any warning, Naruto felt a weigh crash against his chest. In seconds the wind was knocked out of him and Chiyuko was lying on top of him, her face buried in his chest, crying her eyes out.

Brotherly instincts, or what he thought were, made him place a rough hand on the back of her head and she stoked her waterfall like hair. And they lay like that, just crying and holding each other, wondering if memories they thought existed would come back to them…

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A/n: I thought that ending was nice. That was a preview of NarutoxOC, and next chapter there may be something else.

Please review!

TSA


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